Social Class Differences In Achievement

Question 1

Describe the trend of the % of pupils gaining 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE, by parents’ social class (high professional, low professional, immediate, low supervisory & routine)

Answer 1

High professional e.g doctor - 83%
Low professional e.g teacher - 76%
Immediate e.g office worker - 62%
Low supervisory e.g foreman- 51%
Routine e.g sales assistant - 44%

Question 2

What are the 3 main aspects of cultural deprivation (external factors)

Answer 2

Intellectual development

Linguistic deprivation

Attitudes and values

Question 3

Who discusses intellectual development as an aspect of cultural deprivation and what is said about it? (External)

Answer 3

Douglas

He found WC children score less well on ability tests that MC pupils. He argues it’s because their parents are less likely to read to them/buy educational toys to help their intellectual development.

Question 4

Give a criticism for Douglas’ view on cultural deprivation (external)

Answer 4

WC parents don’t buy their children educational toys due to a lack of money (material deprivation)

Question 5

Who discusses linguistic deprivation as an aspect of cultural deprivation and what is said about it? (External)

Answer 5

Bernstein

He argues WC speak in restricted code whilst MC speak in elaborated code.
Speaking elaborated code benefits MC because this is the language used at schools, and so they can express their ideas better, understand teachers more and vice versa.
Since WC children don’t speak elaborated code (and aren’t taught it at school according to him) they’re more likely to underachieve.

Question 6

Who discusses attitudes and values as an aspect of cultural deprivation and what is said about it? (External)

Answer 6

Douglas

He argues WC parents value education less than MC parents, don’t encourage their children as much and show less interest in their children’s education e.g they’re less likely to attend parents evening - causing their children to be less motivated- underachievement.

Question 7

Give a criticism for Douglas’ view on cultural deprivation (attitudes and values) (external)

Answer 7

WC parents may not attend parent’s evening because they’re working evening shifts, or that they may be out off by the MC atmosphere of the school- not because they don’t value education.

Question 8

What is Sugarman’s argument surrounding gratification (external)

Answer 8

WC seek immediate gratification - they want pleasure now, don’t think about their future, leave education at 16 rather then doing more qualifications to get a higher paid job later.

MC have an attitude of delayed gratification- staying in education longer to have a better paid job later.

WC tend to be fatalistic- they can’t change their fate (their low position).

WC have a present time orientation: they see the present as more important than the future and so don’t have long term goals - they don’t have a career plan or think about staying in education.

Question 9

Give a criticism for cultural deprivation views (external)

Answer 9

Keddie - the reason WC children underachieve isn’t due to being culturally deprived but culturally different from the education system , which is dominated by MC values (cultural difference hypothesis).

Question 10

Describe the government policies that have been influenced by cultural deprivation theory

Answer 10

Compensatory education: education to compensate for cultural deprivation

In the US a programme called Operation Headstart was launched in the 1960s which incl parenting classes and nursery classes in poor areas. Sesame Street was also apart of OH , teaching children through TV.

In UK- Education Action Zones (giving more money to schools in poor areas) and SureStart (pre-school nurseries in poorer areas).

Question 11

Give a criticism for gov policies related to cultural deprivation (external)

Answer 11

WC students don’t underachieve because of cultural deprivation but material deprivation, which compensatory education doesn’t address.

Question 12

Give the stats surrounding children on FSM and underachievement

Answer 12

In 2012 about 33% of children on FSM achieved at least 5 A*-Cs compared to 66% of children not receiving them- and nearly 90% of failing schools are in poor areas.

Question 13

Give all the ways material deprivation can cause underachievement (external)

Answer 13

Housing
Diet & Health
Financial support
Fear of debt

Question 14

Explain how the example of material deprivation can cause underachievement: housing

Answer 14

Overcrowded housing makes studying difficult.

Cold and damp housing causes illness, meaning time off school.

Children in temporary (bed and breakfast) accommodation are more likely to suffer from mental health problems , causing time off school.

Question 15

Explain how the example of material deprivation can cause underachievement: Diet &Health

Answer 15

A poor diet causes a weak immune system = illness = time off school.

Poor children are more likely to suffer from hyperactivity and anxiety disorders = being sent out of lessons.

A lack of nutrients = poor concentration in lessons= underachievement.

Question 16

Explain how the example of material deprivation can cause underachievement: Financial support

Answer 16

Poorer children may have hand me down uniforms = bullied at school.

Poor children may work to support parents = less study time.

Some parents can’t afford educational equipment for their children (Bull- the cost of free schooling).

Question 17

Explain how the example of material deprivation can cause underachievement: Fear of debt

Answer 17

Callendar & Jackson

Found WC pupils are more debt averse and such students were 5x less likely to apply to uni = less qualifications than MC students.

Those who do go = more likely to attend local unis to live at home = not going to better unis + work part time = reduces study time.

Question 18

Give a criticism for material deprivation (external)

Answer 18

Some sociologists point out that the cultural, religious or political values of the family may help a child achieve, even if they live in poverty.

Question 19

Give the gov policies related to material deprivation (external)

Answer 19

Children from poor families revive free school meals to help combat poor nutrition.

Bursaries are given to some families in further education from low income families to encourage them to stay in education after school.

Question 20

Who makes the argument around cultural capital and what is said? (external)

Answer 20

Bordieu

Both cultural and material factors are related to each other. He identifies 3 types of capital : economic, educational and cultural.

MC students have more CC- their parents take them to art galleries, classical music concerts etc which benefit their education. MC parents also possess CC- knowledge of the education system and use this to get their children into the best schools. So CC=Ed C for MC students (they get better qualifications.

MC parents have EC and so buy ED C for their children e.g paying for private schools.

Question 21

Who makes the argument about social capital and what is said?

Answer 21

Ball
Argues MC parents have more social capital : access to social networks and contacts which can provide info and support.

Question 22

Give a positive evaluation on Bourdieu’s cultural capital (external)

Answer 22

Sullivan tested Bourdieu’s ideas on CC - a survey given to 465 students in 4 schools , asking them about their leisure activities.

It was found that those who read complex fiction and watched serious TV docs had greater CC and were more likely to be successful at GCSE.

However, it was found that when children from different social class backgrounds had the same CC, MC students still achieved more due to greater resources and aspirations their parents had.

Question 23

Give the internal factors of class difference in achievement

Answer 23

Labelling & Self- fulfilling prophecy

Setting/ Streaming

Pupil subcultures

Pupils’ class identities & schools

Question 24

Who conducted the study on how teachers labelled students based on the ‘ideal pupil’ and what was found? (Internal)

Answer 24

Becker (interactionist)

He interviewed 60 high school teachers in Chicago and found they judged students based on how they fitted the image of the ‘ideal pupil’.

Pupils’ work, conduct and appearance all affected these judgements- MC children were seen as the closest to ideal , WC the furthest as they were seen as disruptive.

Teachers tend to have low expectations of WC students so these students are more likely to end up in lower sets/streams -causing them to get the message that the teachers see them as no-hopers and demotivates them , while MC students tend to get placed in higher assets or streams.

Even if they don’t set/stream them, they might differentiate students in a mixed ability class- where they’re given different tasks based on their ability.

Question 25

How do interactionsists argue labelling creates SFP in students?

Answer 25

Step 1- A teacher labels a student as a troublemaker and predicts they will underachieve. Step 2- The teacher treats the pupil based on the label. They may expect less work from them and react more strongly to bad behaviour from them. Step 3- The pupil internalises the teacher’s view of them, which affects their self image. They may believe they are a bad student and so act accordingly to the label they’ve been given, making the prediction true.

Question 26

Give a positive evaluation on labelling theory / SFP (R&J)

Answer 26

A study by Rosenthal & Jacobson - they went into school and told the teachers they were giving the students a test to see which students would spurt ahead, which was really just a standard IQ test. They then picked 20% of the students at random and told the teachers they were the spurters. When they returned a year later nearly half of the spurts had made significant progress. R&J argued this was because the teachers would have treated these students differently, such as giving them more attention, causing their achievements to improve.

Question 27

Give criticisms for labelling theory (internal)

Answer 27

Too deterministic- peoples will take on the labels teachers give them when they may reject them as we have free will- e.g. Fuller’s girls. It blames teachers for labelling pupils yet fails to explain why they label them in the first place. Marxists- the labels aren’t the result of individual teachers’ prejudices but from them working in a system which reproduces class inequalities.

Question 28

Who makes an argument surrounding setting and streaming and what is said?

Answer 28

Gillbourn & Youdell They argue teachers use ideas of ability to stream pupils- WC and black pupils are often seen as being of lower ability-> placed in lower streams/sets -> entered for lower tier GCSE papers-> limits the grades they can achieve. They link streaming to exam league tables and argue they create an A-C economy - schools focus on students who’ll get those grades and students are ‘sorted’ through ‘educational triage’ into ‘those who’ll pass anyway’ , ‘those with potential’, ‘hopeless cases’ - WC and black students are being the most likely to be labelled as ‘hopeless cases’ so they are ignored - SFP. While this is similar to labelling theory, this idea identifies marketisation as the cause of teacher labelling.

Question 29

Give a positive evaluation on setting & streaming

Answer 29

A study found that WC students placed in lower streams at the age of 8 had a lower IQ by 11 , with the opposite happening for those and higher streams - this shows the impact streaming has an achievement.

Question 30

Who argued differentiation and polarisation in schools creates subcultures?

Answer 30

Lacey

Question 31

Explain differentiation and polarisation (pupil subcultures - internal factor)

Answer 31

Differentiation- Teachers categorise students based on how they view their ability, attitude and behaviour. Setting and streaming are forms of differentiation as they involve putting students into classes based on academic ability. Polarisation- this is how students respond to s/s by moving towards one of two opposite poles/extremes. Students in the top s/s are mainly MC -> form a pro- school of culture (gaining status through) achievement. Those in the lower s/s mainly working class from anti-school cultures (gaining status by not doing work) . While WC students gain status from their bad behaviour in their group ->SFP =as the expectations teachers have of them approved correct and they underachieve.

Question 32

Give a positive evaluation on pupil subcultures

Answer 32

Ball- found that what is school abolished streaming the influence of the anti-school subculture declined as there was less polarisation. However ,differentiation continued in the school with MC students being more likely to be positively labelled and therefore achieving better exam results. This shows that teacher labelling can cause differences in achievement even without the effects of streaming or subcultures. The A-C economy also had an impact on the differentiation of students.

Question 33

Who came up with the idea of habitus and what was said? (Pupils’ identities & schools)

Answer 33

Bordieu used the idea of habitus and argued MC define their habitus as superior, and so the education system is based on it. Students from MC backgrounds gain symbolic capital from the school and schools devalue WC habitus (symbolic violence).

Question 34

Who came up with the idea of Nike identities and what was said ? (Pupils’ identities & schools)

Answer 34

Archer She found WC pupils felt looked down upon by school and tried to create Nike identities through fashion, wearing branded clothes etc-> caused conflict with school due to dress codes -> caused WC students to feel education wasn’t for them-> underachievement. In order to gain symbolic capital (status) from friends, WC girls adopted hyper-heterosexual feminine identities, which caused conflict with school.

Question 35

Why do WC students self exclude from elite unis? (Pupils’ identities & schools)

Answer 35

Contributes to class differences in achievement e.f they don’t apply to Oxbridge as they feel they won’t fit in

Question 36

Describe the relationship between external and internal factors

Answer 36

They can’t be looked at in isolation as they are often interrelated . For example, the use of restricted code by WC pupils may lead to teachers giving them negative labels.